WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



train, and we were none too early. The place seemed 

 alive with savages — our savages. And they were 

 not behaving with dignity. Everyone seemed to be 

 afraid he was going to be left behind. If he did 

 not attempt to fight his way into an already overfull 

 carriage he climbed on top of it, and had to be hauled 

 down by a perspiring official. 



The baggage was in stacks, great piles of it, which 

 made one feel guilty of some awful crime, it seemed 

 so utterly out of proportion. Case after case of 

 provisions ; ugly bundles, which when untied would 

 form parts of tents, folding tables and chairs ; weirdly- 

 tied packages of cooking gear ; small, heavy boxes 

 of ammunition ; bags of food for the carriers and 

 bags of food for the dogs — all had to be sorted out, 

 counted, checked, and packed in the vans. We began, 

 as I said, at 11.30 a.m. and our train finally got away 

 at 4.0 p.m. : at least, we were ready at that time. Then 

 a final count was made, with the result that six 

 native stowaways were discovered and ejected ungently, 

 their discomfiture apparently amusing their fellow- 

 countrymen immensely. 



I heaved a sigh of relief as the guard blew his 

 whistle and we really started. There is a steep 

 gradient up to Limoru, which is in the Kikuyu country. 

 From there onwards one climbs upwards more 

 steadily through thick forest all the time to the 

 Kikuyu escarpment, the top of which is nearly eight 



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